U.S. Domestic Airline Fuel Efficiency Ranking

Two studies will be discussed: the original 2010 benchmark study, and the more recent 2011/2012 update. Collectively, the studies provide the first apples-to-apples comparison of airline efficiency using primary airline-reported fuel burn and operations data and adjusting for variations among airlines in business operations, networks, and scale. The work identifies a 26% gap between the most and least fuel-efficient U.S. airlines overall, and estimates that the fuel efficiency of U.S. domestic operations improved by a modest 2.3% from 2010 to 2012, less than what will be needed to meet long-term climate protection goals. 

The webinar will provide an overview of the methodology used to rank the fuel efficiency of U.S. airlines both overall and at the route level, and present results for the period of 2010 to 2012. The webinar will also relate the studies’ findings to key drivers of airline efficiency, including the relationship between airline efficiency and technology (e.g., new planes and winglet retrofits), airline profitability, and recent airline mergers.

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